Disqus

The Pro's & Con's of Distance Learning.

5 November 2015

So you may have noticed that I've been posting a few "beauty" related posts over the past month. You may also have noticed that on my new blog layout I have a "beauty" category nestled among the other tabs. In August I started my Level 3 in Makeup Artistry; today I wanted to share a bit about the course and also the pros and cons of distance learning.

What is Distance Learning?

In laymen terms, distance learning is when an education is given but not in the typical classroom setting. In most cases a course pack is delivered to your house, you are assigned a tutor through email and you submit your work to them, which they then mark and send back your results. Most courses that I have looked into offer you one year to complete your course.Why did I choose Distance Learning?

Back in 2012 I completed my Level 3 in Psychology using this type of learning. At the time I had James, still at home full time and although I loved being a stay at home Mum, I wanted to tax my brain. It took me six months overall and was a really great experience. The tutor was helpful and always there if I had a question. When I decided that I wanted to get my qualification in Makeup Artistry I looked into the traditional route but my biggest problem was childcare. With having young children it just made sense for me to go with the distance learning route.

The Pro's?

The biggest pro for me is that I can work the course around my family and my main job of being a stay at home Mum. If I have a spare hour during nap time then I can sit down and get some work done. I love the flexibility of it. Some weeks I get eight hours work in, other weeks it's just two but a year is more than enough time so I don't have to worry about deadlines.
I think it's good that the kids get to see that even though I don't go 'out' to work that doesn't mean that I can't learn something new. Education doesn't have to stop when you leave school and I love the fact that James comes over and asks me what I'm doing or he'll ask me questions about the assignment I'm working on.

The Con's?

Although being able to do the course from home is a massive pro in my opinion, occasionally I have thought about how much more work I probably would have already completed if I was going to a classroom setting once a week and sitting in front of a teacher. It's easy to sit down at night once the kids are in bed and think 'I'm too tired tonight. I'll do it tomorrow night.'
Also I have decided that I am going to take some courses on the side that incorporate some practical work. The course that I am currently taking is just text book learning so I also want to take some courses where I get can some hands on experience.

Overall I'm so happy with the route I've chosen to further my education. It may not work for everyone and some people may need that classroom setting to be able to focus and push themselves but if you're a hermit like me then I'd say go for it!

There will be more beauty related posts popping up in the future so if you have something specific that you want me to write about then feel free to leave a comment and let me know.